July 21, 2016

Dre Taylor the founder and owner of Nile Valley Aquaponics, an urban growing operation at 29th and Wabash designed to address the food desert situation in Kansas City, MO, by producing fish and vegetables in a controlled sustainable environment. Nile Valley Aquaponics is a self-sustained operation that will produce talipia and vegetables.The goal is to produce over 100,000 lbs of food on less than an acre of land. They will also do beekeeping and composting on the property.The project creates green jobs and provides economic opportunities for those in the local area.Nile Valley Aquaponics is partnered with Lincoln University working on aqua culture and Pinnacle Career Institute who will build the operation a small wind turbine for renewable energy. Nile Valley Aquaponics has created a duplicable model that can be scaled to any block within any blighted community in the country.

Jessica Walker is the owner of Black Rabbit Doula, an agency serving pregnant women and their partners who crave a supportive, personalized experience when bringing their new baby into the world. She connects them to the perfect services for their needs, setting them up to have a more comfortable and satisfying pregnancy, labor and postpartum period so they can focus on what they really want: starting their family on their terms.

Through her personalized and engaging childbirth education sessions, and comforting labor and postpartum assistance, her mission is to show her clients that there is no wrong way to give birth or parent. And hopefully make them feel totally pampered every step of the way.

When she’s not mentoring pregnant couples on their journey to parenthood, helping new moms get the rest they desperately need, or cruising Buy Buy Baby to stay up-to-date with all the latest gear, you can find her living life to the fullest. Sometimes that’s by exploring Kansas City, taking her beautiful children on all sorts of adventures (no matter the weather), with her nose stuck in a book (another type of adventure), or jumping out of planes!